Whiner nation

Look no further than the McCain campaign to see Phil Gramm's recent comments borne out.

The extraordinary coverage planned for Mr. Obama’s trip, though in part solicited by aides, reflects how the candidate remains an object of fascination in the news media, a built-in feature of being the first black presidential nominee for a major political party and a relative newcomer to the national stage.

But the coverage also feeds into concerns in Mr. McCain’s campaign, and among Republicans in general, that the news media are imbalanced in their coverage of the candidates, just as aides to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton felt during the primary season.

“In every campaign, time is a finite resource, so it is unproductive to spend it worrying about the way Obama is covered,” said Jill Hazelbaker, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain. “That being said, it certainly hasn’t escaped us that the three network newscasts will originate from stops on Obama’s trip.”

Could that be because the Obama campaign is intrinsically more interesting than the bumbling McCain campaign? Could it be because McCain has repeatedly chided Obama for not visiting Iraq? Could it be that more viewers will tune in to see how Obama acts and what he says when he visits Iraq than they would if McCain takes another "stroll" there? Could it be that the networks are driven by something called "viewership" and "ratings?" Inquiring minds want to know.

Meanwhile, Obama raised $52 million in June, for an average of $68 per donor, according to the campaign. People get ready.